With grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Georgia Museum of Contemporary Art’s Working Artist Project (WAP) aims to provide support to artists living and working in Atlanta. Those selected receive a $15,000 stipend, a paid studio apprentice, $1,000 in art supplies, inclusion in the MOCA’s permanent collection, and a months-long solo exhibition of their new work. One such artist is Kirstin Mitchell, who was one of three artists selected in 2017 and is now presenting her solo exhibition Miecznikowski.

Covering the gamut of subjects from voyeurism and feminine sexuality to our relationship with nature, Mitchell creates experimental environments that challenge our perceptions. Through painting, photography, installations, and performance art, Mitchell’s work disarms the senses and defies easy description, creating a sensory experience that must be experienced in person to be understood, if it can be at all. Her latest, ‘Miecznikowski,’ is a culmination of Mitchell’s year as a WAP Fellow and aims to “touch on identity and the interruption of atmosphere,” while also paying homage to Polish folklore and blue-collar Southern history.